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12/11/2019 07:44 AMAs most residents are currently working out holiday logistics—planning meals or travel, going through shopping wish-lists, or hammering out schedules—there are others in the community who are struggling with a much more pressing question: How to put food on the table.
At Community Services of Madison (CSM), formerly known as Madison Community Services, making sure that people who are struggling financially or in other ways have access to a large selection of healthy, fresh food is a year-round mission for the all-volunteer organization, though during the holiday season, there is a special effort to ensure every Madison resident gets to enjoy plenty of good, wholesome food.
Husband and wife duo Margaret and Vincent Diglio administer both the food pantry, which serves hundreds of residents, as well as a holiday food basket program, which puts together specifically seasonal meals for residents who might otherwise go without.
Margaret Diglio said that CSM volunteers this year delivered 106 Thanksgiving meals, including stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a whole turkey. She said they have another 110 orders for similar Christmas baskets, which go out on Monday, Dec. 23.
Helping people in this essential, personal way is something Diglio said she wanted to do after retiring from many years as an elementary school principal. Her husband, who co-runs and co-founded the food programs, was also an educator, she said.
“I also wanted it to be an example to my grandchildren, so they could see beyond their own needs that there are other people who have needs, that they can help,” Diglio said.
Diglio said that people who use the food pantry or receive the baskets all have a different story. Some are out of work, or are working part time, Diglio said. Others are unable to work due to health or personal issues.
“A lot of tears are shed in this pantry, when people come for the first time,” Diglio said.
All are Madison residents, though—the only requirement for using the food pantry is proof of residency, according to Diglio. People who receive the holiday baskets are identified in another way, Diglio said, through working with Madison Social Services.
Both the food pantry and CSM are set up organizationally in a unique way. CSM receives no federal or state funding of any kind, instead depending on donations, both from individuals and local businesses.
The food pantry began as nothing more than a closet in Madison Youth & Family Services stocked with food for the organization’s clients, according to Diglio. It then moved to First Congregational Church before settling in its current location at a warehouse on Mungertown Road south of I-95.
The entire operation is run on various donations and volunteers, collaborating with other civic-minded organizations around Madison. The police department assists with the storage, collection, and distribution of turkeys during the holidays. The Madison Exchange Club will help sort and pack the holiday baskets, while another group of on-call volunteers takes responsibility for the deliveries. Big Y and other grocery stores donate meat and other items. Drivers from the Neighbor to Neighbor program at the Madison Foundation help get food to people who are unable to travel to the pantry.
Even the rent for the food pantry space is paid for by local resident Gordon Gregoretti, who approached Diglio and her husband after they spoke about their work to the Madison Exchange Club.
Selectman Scott Murphy recently helped deliver “a very generous donation” from Roberts Food Center—something around 50 bags of food he said—to be used for the pantry’s holiday programs. He said he had been surprised to learn of how many Madison families need the services of the pantry, and lauded the work Diglio and others have been doing.
“I think whatever the community can do to get out and dig through their pantries and their wallets and help...would be incredibly appreciated,” Murphy said. “They are some amazing volunteers there, working really, really hard every single day to ensure these families are provided for.”
The food pantry itself is set up in a way consciously intended to give people more choice, and more of a feeling of normalcy, Diglio said. Shelves, freezers, and refrigerators are placed in a layout not unlike a grocery store, and people take their shopping carts and bags just like they would at a grocery store. Volunteers stationed around help people pick out the right portions and items.
“We wanted it to be a different profile,” Diglio said. “We don’t pre-package—choice is very important.”
That compassion, along with a town-spirit of collaboration, Diglio said, is what the food pantry and CSM uniquely brings to the community, as they work to ensure that no one in town goes without.
For more information on the food pantry and other CSM programs, visit madisoncommunityservices.org or call 203-245-3031.